ANTISEMITISM – AUSTRALIA

Van bomb targeted at synagogue

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Original article by Alexi Demetriadi
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Jan-25

The Joint Counter Terrorism Team has been deployed to investigate a suspected plot to target Jewish Australians, after NSW police discovered a caravan packed with explosives in the north-west Sydney suburb of Dural. A note identifying a Jewish target – which is said to be a Sydney synagogue – was found in the caravan, and Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Hudson estimates that the explosives were sufficient to create a blast zone radius of 40 metres. NSW police found the caravan 10 days ago, and argue that publicly disclosing the incident may have compromised their investigation; it was only revealed after being leaked to the media on Wednesday. Meanwhile, police have confirmed that the owner of the caravan is in custody, although he has not yet been charged with any offence.

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NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Coalition demands Labor hate speech crackdown explicitly outlaw threats and attacks on places of worship

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Original article by Krishani Dhanji
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 24-Jan-25

Federal parliament will resume in February, with Labor’s proposed crackdown on hate speech set to be one of the major points of discussion. Tabled in September, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus contends that the legislation will act as a deterrent to anti-Semitism and other forms of hate speech and would protect places of worship, but the Coalition wants the legislation to explicitly outlaw threats and attacks against places of worship. For her part, independent MP Allegra Spender has called on the government to include a stronger vilification offence for hateful speech in the legislation. Her eastern Sydney electorate has a large Jewish community and LGBTQ+ community, who she said have both raised concerns about the proposed legislation not doing enough.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Cops suspect foreign actors paying crims for anti-Semitic attacks

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Alexi Demetriadi
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 22-Jan-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese belatedly convened a meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the growing incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. The virtual meeting with state and territory leaders was held in the wake of the latest anti-Semitic attack, in which a Sydney childcare centre was firebombed and daubed with an anti-Semitic message; the facility is not directly linked to the Jewish community, but it is located just 200 metres from the Maroubra synagogue. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has raised the possibility that ‘overseas actors’ may be using encrypted devices to hire ocal criminals to carry out anti-Semitic attacks and paying them with cryptocurrency.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Dutton pledges mandatory sentences for terror

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Jan-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of the national cabinet to address the growing problem of anti-Semitism and extremism. Dutton has also committed to introducing a minimum mandatory sentence of six years for terrorism offences and 1-5 years for displaying Nazi symbols and those of prohibited terrorist organisations. However, Law Council of Australia president Juliana Warner and Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns have criticised Dutton’s push for mandatory sentencing for such crimes.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS ALLIANCE

‘Democracy is at stake’: SOS from PM’s envoy

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Original article by Alexi Demetriadi, Bianca Farmakis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 15-Jan-25

Australia’s inaugural envoy on anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of national cabinet to address the issue. Segal has called for harsher sentences and more prosecutions for hate crimes directed at Jewish Australians, arguing that the judiciary’s soft approach to sentencing is giving anti-Semites "effective impunity". Segal adds that politicians at federal and state level must take legislative action if current laws are not "up to the task". Segal notes that the recent attacks on the Jewish community are part of a "systematic pattern of intimidation" that began when no action was taken against people who targeted Jews at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October 2023.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

China, Russia, Israel: Wong on affront foot

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Original article by Ben Packham, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 : 11-Dec-24

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended a controversial speech at the University of South Australia. Wong used the Hawke Lecture to contend that it is not anti-Semitic to expect Israel to comply with international law, in the same way that Russia and China are expected to do so with regard to Ukraine and the South China Sea. However, shadow home affairs minister James Paterson says Wong’s criticism of Israel is encouraging anti-Semitism and threatening the safety of Jewish Australians. Meanwhile, Simone Abel from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has accused the government of double standards regarding foreign policy towards Israel.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY

Antisemitism changing nation, Albanese told

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 11-Dec-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told the Jewish community that the federal government will provide financial support to rebuild the Adass Israel synagogue. Albanese visited the site on Tuesday, spending 45 minutes inspecting the remains of the building and a similar amount of time in a private meeting with senior members of the Adass Israel community. Benjamin Klein, a member of the synagogue’s board, says community leaders told Albanese that the surge in anti-Semitism has "changed the fabric of Australia", and that the government must take action to address it. Police are searching for three suspects in the firebombing, which has been designated a terrorist attack.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Travel warning for Jewish visitors to Australia after synagogue attack

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Original article by Chip Le Grand, Paul Sakkal, James Massola
The Age – Page: Online : 10-Dec-24

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre is set to advise Jewish people worldwide to reconsider non-essential travel to Australia in the wake of the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. The US-based Jewish human rights organisation’s associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper says it issues travel advisories infrequently and only when fears for Jews’ safety reach crisis levels; it has not previously issued a travel warning against Australia. Meanwhile, a taskforce has been established to investigate the firebombing; sources have indicated that three suspects have been identified, and the attack is being treated as politically rather than religiously motivated.

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SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE

Police, ASIO taskforce to protect Jews

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Dec-24

The federal government has announced that the Australian Federal Police and ASIO will establish a special taskforce to investigate anti-Semitism in Australia. The decision to set up ‘Operation Avalite’ follows official confirmation that the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne has been designated a terrorist attack. Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has defended the decision to belatedly make this declaration, but federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton says it was "obvious from the start" that it was a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised for playing tennis at an exclusive Perth tennis club on Saturday rather than cut short his visit to Western Australia in response to the synagogue attack.

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AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, VICTORIA POLICE

PM finally acknowledges act of terror at synagogue

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Original article by Cameron Stewart, Sarah Ison, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 3 : 9-Dec-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the federal government’s track record on anti-Semitism in the wake of an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue on Friday. Albanese used a press conference on Sunday to contend that his government has consistently called out the rise in anti-Semitism. He also belatedly expressed his personal view that the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue was an act of terrorism. However, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has declined to do so, stating that the firebombing was an "act of anti-Semitic evil". Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has linked the firebombing to the federal government’s "extreme anti-Israeli position".

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET